Beatson Clark’s Message In A Bottle

Stuart PritchardJuly 24, 2018

LYNN SIDEBOTTOM, Sales & Marketing Director at Beatson Clark, talks about the myriad benefits glass gives over any other form of packaging…

Sir David Attenborough’s BBC TV series Blue Planet 2 has propelled the topic of plastic waste into the headlines. Now hardly a day goes by without another global brand or organisation pledging to ban single-use plastics in order to clean up our oceans. At Beatson Clark we’ve been making glass bottles since long before plastic was even invented, and so we understand only too well the clear advantages of glass as a drinks packaging material over plastic.

As plastic has become more common we have continued to promote glass as a healthier and more sustainable packaging material which does not harm your health, the environment or the drink inside the bottle. Humans have been storing drinks in glass bottles for thousands of years, and it’s good to know that glass is still as friendly to health and the environment as it’s always been. Unlike other packaging materials, glass is 100% infinitely recyclable – it never loses strength or quality no matter how many times it’s recycled.

SMASHING STUFF

Glass is a healthy and sustainable packaging material

Glass is also, without doubt, a safe, healthy and reliable packaging material. It is inert, which means that nothing can get into the contents except what’s supposed to be there – it’s the world’s only single layer packaging that doesn’t require additional layers to protect its contents. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for other materials, which can leach harmful chemicals into drinks.

Not only is glass strong, safe, good for your health and environmentally friendly, it’s also a great material if you want to get creative with your bottle designs. As well as the different colours of glass that can be manufactured, there are many other decorative effects that can be achieved nowadays, from embossing and debossing to textured surfaces, spray coatings, sleeving and screen printing. And of course, variations in the weight, style and shape of the glass bottle can also give beverage products a premium feel.

Embossing adds an extra edge of luxury

At Beatson Clark we offer an extensive standard range of bottles that customers can choose, but we get really creative when customers commission a bespoke bottle for their product. Our in-house team of designers works with the customer from start to finish to create a unique design that will really make the product stand out.

Nine out of every 10 bespoke designs we produce for our customers include unique embossing – names, slogans, logos or patterns embossed on the glass to enhance its appeal and make the container truly unique. And for those producers who can’t afford a completely bespoke design, we offer the flexibility of a standard bottle with custom embossing added, which saves on the cost of having totally new finish moulds made.

Using state-of-the-art sculpting software, Beatson Clark has produced many bespoke embossed designs for customers, such as a bottle featuring an idyllic country scene for STORY Drinks and a 500ml beer bottle for Boyne Brewhouse in Drogheda with the words ‘Boyne Brewhouse’ on the shoulder and the words ‘Brewed in the Boyne Valley’ embossed around the base.

SPIRIT WORLD

Glass is also great if you want to get creative with bottle design

A year or two ago the fastest growing drinks sector for Beatson Clark was craft brewing; now the craft spirits sector has taken up the baton, and many craft and small-batch distillers have been launched to meet the new consumer demand for niche spirits brands. Many craft distillers ask us to create bespoke designs for their brands; however, a new trend is emerging too: our Apothecary range of glass bottles works perfectly with boutique or artisan spirits, and a unique look can be achieved simply and effectively with an off-the-shelf medicine bottle originally intended for pharmaceutical products.

One of the first brands to take up this idea was BrewDog, which launched its prototype LoneWolf V3 gin in our standard white flint 500ml Sloping Shoulder Flat bottle. Originally designed for medicines, the bottle has elegant lines and an unusual shape which help to emphasise the pioneering nature of LoneWolf’s gin.

Another customer who found a novel use for one of our standard bottles and jars was London Rd Jam Jar Cocktails, who sold their range of ready-to-serve premium cocktails in our 300ml glass food jar.

BEATSON BESPOKE

Whether you’re a manufacturer of soft drinks for adults, ready-mixed cocktails, craft beers or artisan spirits, you’ll never find a better packaging material for your product than glass. To find out more about Beatson Clark’s general sale range or our bespoke design service, call 01709 828 141 or email sales@beatsonclark.co.uk.